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Kris Godsall. Photo Credit: Jim Tannock
Kris Godsall was 15 when he became one of the first students of the New Zealand School of Winegrowing at Marlborough Boys' College, channelling a love of chemistry and cooking into plans to become a winemaker.
Eight years later, the 2026 Ormond Nurseries Young Viticulturist of the Year says the defining feature of his education and career ever since has been people "that have just said 'yes'". From his first vintage at Giesen in Year 12, to his current role as Assistant Vineyard Manager at Cloudy Bay in Marlborough, he's found a support network that he urges new generations to adopt. "Real leadership isn't just about getting better yourself," he said in his speech at the Marlborough regional competition earlier this year. "It's about lifting and teaching the people around you."
It was a sentiment echoed by Sam Wickham from Ormond Nurseries, who presented Kris with his trophy at the New Zealand Wine 2026 Celebration Dinner in Wellington in late August, noting the competition fuelled the industry's future leaders. "Every time you tap a young person on the shoulder and say, 'You should put yourself forward for this', you're helping to build the next generation."
Ormond Nurseries championed the Wine School, and then Kris' progress through it, with Sam calling him a "standout" of the cohort, always kind and committed. "There couldn't be a better ambassador for the Wine School, for this competition, and for Marlborough." The high regard goes both ways. "Sam and Marcus (Wickham) have quietly been in the background of my career all the way through," Kris says, noting work experience at the company, and that Marcus, New Zealand's inaugural Young Viticulturist of the Year, helped him prepare for his first regional Young Viticulturist competition in 2022.
Having loved his Giesen vintage in Year 12, Kris carried on with work experience at the company for one day a week over the next two years, and returned for summer vineyard work before his viticulture and oenology degree at Lincoln University, soon realising his vocation was in the vines, not the winery. The next 'yes' came from Whitehaven Wines, where Kris had holiday work throughout his degree, and then from Cloudy Bay, when he sent an email and was told to come and give it a try. "I have been here since."
His Cloudy Bay team helped him prepare for this year's national final, held in Wairarapa in late August, with a three-year plan for winning the New Zealand title. Kris proved a strong contender in hands-on aspects of viticulture, winning the BioStart Hortisports and coming in second in the Ecotrellis trellising section, and also won the research project, focused on preparing for a Super El Niño, and cost-savings analysis in a subregional vineyard.
After spending every weekend at work researching his project, including talking to experts and implementing the new Bragato Research Institute mothballing decision-making model, he opted for a three-year redevelopment and a two-yar redevelopment of blocks in declining productivity, leaving one block in full production and another with reduced input. With an upgraded tractor, cloud-based irrigation and monitoring system, and Ecotrellis posts and high-stem vines, he boosted the efficiency and productivity of the blocks. The process was "eye-opening" when it came to learning about vineyard costs, the efficiencies and sustainability offered by technology and innovation, and the potential implications of this year's forecast Super El Niño, says Kris.
The national win (well in advance of his training plan) means he can no longer enter the competition, but he plans to keep challenging himself through work and experience. "I've always been one to try and take opportunities when they come up, and push myself with whatever I can do." Meanwhile, he'll continue coaching Marlborough Boys' College rowers, which he sees as a chance to give back, given the "amazing coaches" he had when rowing at the school. That explains, perhaps, a penchant for being out in the vines at 5am.
Having had so much support in his first eight years of wine, Kris is ready to help other future Young Viticulturist competitors prepare, knowing that the successful future of the industry relies on collaboration. "We shape Marlborough by working more openly, sharing our knowledge and rising as one," he said in his speech at the national competition. "We collaborate by learning together."
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A Lincoln University student is set to become the first person to contest both the Young Viticulturist and the Young Winemaker national titles in one year.
Joshua Irving has been named the 2026 Ormond Nurseries North Canterbury Young Viticulturist of the Year.
Twenty years after Marcus Wickham became the inaugural New Zealand Young Viticulturust of the Year, his family company, Ormond Nurseries, has become the naming sponsor of the event.
